The first step
ROSS TWP — Nicole McCloud had already experienced the worst North Hills' gym has to offer.
“Two years ago, I was a sophomore on a team that played here in the (first round of the) playoffs. We were the No. 2 seed and lost (52-34 to South Park). It was a bad shooting day for us.”
The first quarter of Friday night's WPIAL Class 5A first round playoff against Montour left no indication the Planets' offense would find the going any easier than it did two years prior. Though Mars held a tenuous 11-9 lead after eight minutes of play, it made just three of 17 field goal attempts.
That's when shots began to fall in bunches for Mars, which sank 21 of its next 30 attempts and posted a 72-57 victory over the Spartans.
“I think we had the first playoff game jitters tonight,” said McCloud. “Once the second quarter started, we were much more relaxed.”
Mars (17-6) will play Oakland Catholic, a 42-24 victor over Connellsville, next Saturday in the quarterfinals at a site and time to be determined.
McCloud dropped 10 of her game-high 21 points in the second period Friday as the Planets' lead swelled to 33-19 with just over a minute left before halftime.
Montour did manage a 7-2 run to close the first half, cutting the Planet advantage to 35-26, but Spartan coach Neal Martin knew the odds were stacked against his team making a comeback.
“We knew they had a solid team,” he said. “They shoot the ball well and No. 33 (freshman forward Bella Pelaia) is much improved since the start of the season.”
Pelaia ended the game with 13 points. Her play, as well as that of the other Planets, has benefitted from a recent change in Mars' lineup.
“We moved Nicole to point guard with four games left in the regular season,” said Planet coach Dana Petruska. “It has freed (former point guard) Tai Johnson up and has made our wings better players.”
Johnson managed a 20-point effort. Lauren Wasylson added 13 and McCloud's 10 assists proved that she is more than capable of handling the point.
Following its early shooting woes, Mars' offense played like a well-oiled machine.
“We won't highlight just one or two players in our offense,” said Petruska. “We have four girls who can score and the others get opportunities as well.”
Defensively, the Planets frustrated the Spartans into key turnovers and forced Montour out of its gameplan.“They stayed in a zone all night and forced us to take more outside shots,” said Martin. “That's not our identity.”McCloud made one field goal in the second half, a trey just eight seconds into the third quarter. It was a period in which the Spartans (11-12) needed to close the gap on the scoreboard. Instead, they trailed 53-38 with eight minutes left in the game.Courtney Tomas and Amalia Esposito both drained 19 points for Montour.The Spartans had the size advantage, but were on the short end of a 33-29 count on the glass.“Pound for pound, we looked like a bunch of middle school kids against them,” said Petruska, “but we did what we needed to do.”MONTOUR 57Courtney Tomas 6 7-7 19, Kennedi Stevenson 4 4-4 12, Gabrielle Tanny 2 0-2 4, Amalia Esposito 7 2-2 19, Kemper Foster 1 0-0 3, Aisha Pollard 0 0-0 0, Maura Hickey 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 13-15 57.MARS 72Lauren Wasylson 4 3-4 13, Nicole McCloud 5 8-8 21, Nichole Sommers 1 0-0 2, Tai Johnson 8 3-4 20, Bella Pelaia 6 0-0 13, Daria Hockenberry 1 1-2 3. Totals: 25 15-18 72.Montour 9 17 12 19 — 57Mars11 24 18 19 — 723-point goals: Montour 4 (Esposito 3, Foster); Mars 7 (McCloud 3, Wasylson 2, Johnson, Pelaia).Feb. 25: Mars vs. Oakland Catholic, site and time TBD
